Water reclamation in the manufacture of explosives has been a concern for a number of years. Though explosive laden water is only one by-product of explosive manufacture, it is also produced by other processes. Washout of explosive filled bodies for the purpose of demilitarization is one example.
A number of methods have been studied in efforts to reclaim or recycle water used in explosive manufacture or demilitarization or explosives or chemical agents. Such methods include neutralization, chemical precipitation, fractionation, solvent extraction, electrolytic reduction, activated carbon filtering, chlorination, bromination and ultraviolet light catalyzed oxidation. Of these, activated carbon filtration is one of the most commonly used reclamation means.
Activated carbon filtration, though, has a number of drawbacks. First, the explosive trapped by the carbon during filtration is not recoverable. Second, the activated carbon becomes exhausted and needs to be disposed of or reactivated. Third, even if the carbon is reactivated, the reactivation process generates waste products.